Q: I have always thought the phrase was "just desserts" to indicate getting one's comeuppance. But I so frequently see it in print as "just deserts." So which is it, and where did the phrase come from? --Jean Bayer via email
A: The correct term ...
Q: I have always thought the phrase was "just desserts" to indicate getting one's comeuppance. But I so frequently see it in print as "just deserts." So which is it, and where did the phrase come from? --Jean Bayer via email
A: The correct term ...
Q: I keep seeing "farther" and "further" used interchangeably. Have the rules changed? From a full page ad for "Jet Suite": "Flights further West possible but subject to higher rates." But this is from a newspaper story about an artist: "Farther ...
Asked to use "cliche" in a sentence, a student once responded, "My father came home last night with a cliche on his face." When the puzzled teacher asked the student to define "cliche," he replied, "a tired, worn-out expression."
Before you're ...
Q. In a series of nouns, e.g., " ... grounds, buildings, vehicles, and bus shelters," I was taught to put a comma after all of them except the last in the series; in this case, that would include a comma after the next-to-last item, "vehicles." ...
Q: It drives me nuts to hear things like "It wasn't too good of a game." Is this usage ever correct? --Cynthia Ashworth, Granby, Conn.
A: The unnecessary "of" occurs quite often in spoken English, but all usage authorities condemn its use in ...
